Quote:
Originally Posted by zz4gta
Ok, so how does a 10 year old get started in racing lasers. Break it down for me. $500 is a ton of money if you don't have it.
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I don't disagree with you at all there. When you don't have disposable income participating in sports that have high equipment costs and low public/corporate subsidy just isn't going to be a reality for you. But it's not just the poor who are staying away from racing, it's almost everybody and it can't be money that's keeping them all away. It's not at all uncommon to find middle class parents spending way more than $500/year on sports leagues, clinics, camps, classes, etc for their kids. And there are plenty of other expensive sports/hobbies that have more popularity and greater mind share among the middle class than sailboat racing (skiing & golf, just to name two). I think avoidance of youth sailing has as much or more to do with perception of elitism, perception of expense, parental safety concerns, parental fear of expending their kid's time on a hobby that has little to no value for getting college scholarships, and general fear of not following the crowd as it has to do with cost.